


Hello, can you hear me?

by minzimpression



Series: winterhawk one-shots [9]
Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Adele is a goddess okay, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-07
Updated: 2015-12-07
Packaged: 2018-05-05 11:51:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5374274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minzimpression/pseuds/minzimpression
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(<em>I’m in <del>California</del> New York City dreaming about who we used to be</em>)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hello, can you hear me?

**Author's Note:**

> just a tumblr snippet I posted there yesterday

“ _The number you have called is not available_ ”

Bucky stared at his phone and couldn’t believe the female voice. She almost sounded like she was mocking him. Bitch.

Well...

He could have expected it. The last time he had dialed this number was ten years ago. He had called Clint that he’d like to meet. In private.

What had followed, had been the worst break-up of his life.

(Bucky explaining that this would never work, Clint was only here on loan, and what was SHIELD anyway? Soon, Clint had to go back to the States and long-distance wasn’t Bucky’s style. It was nice fucking you, have a nice life. Bye.

Clint shaking with anger, calling Bucky a coward, and telling him that the sex hadn’t been that good anyway. Clint telling him that Bucky had no heart. Clint telling him that Bucky had been the worst mistake ever.

Clint going back to Washington D.C., after SHIELD’s collaboration with the army was over.

Clint taking Bucky’s heart with him.)

Bucky had felt miserable for weeks.

His thumb had hovered over Clint’s name on his phone every few months.

Every time he got a new phone, he saved Clint’s number.

He couldn’t forget him.

Wouldn’t forget him.

But he never called.

But today.

Today was the day.

~+~

Someone named ‘Fury’ had called Steve and him as soon as they had moved in their new apartment. 

They were finally free from the heat. Free from sand. Free from war.

Apparently that guy was the head of some agency. Steve had forgotten the name, but Fury came with a job offer. 

“So we’re just changing the uniform, not the occupation?” Bucky had asked his best friend.

“Let’s just hear him out. He has this idea of a group of ‘remarkable people’. It sounded nice,” Steve had answered.

“Yeah, sure. Whatever.”

So they went to the Triskelion and learned everything about Fury’s idea.

Steve was on fire as soon as Fury finished his little speech.

Bucky not so much.

He had remembered SHIELD and what people worked for the agency.

But when Fury talked about demi-gods and rage monsters and metal suits, he knew that even if _hey_ was working here, Bucky would never see him. 

This Avengers thing was on a whole other level. They wouldn’t be agents. They would be heroes. Apparently having a metal arm and being a fucking great sniper was equivalent to being a hero. Bucky wouldn’t even be here in the Triskelion. They would live (if they chose to) in Stark tower. And who knew if _he_ was still working here.

Steve wanted to be part of that team.

And Bucky followed him.

He would follow Steve everywhere.

Til the end of the line and all that jazz.  
(Steve had saved his ass so many times, especially during the last ten years in the army. Joining a group of people that dared to call themselves heroes was Bucky’s thank you to Steve.)

Bucky couldn’t sleep that night. They had flown back to their tiny apartment and packed their bags again. Tomorrow they would move to Stark Tower and get their first official debrief. He didn’t want to think about what he had signed up for, so his thoughts drifted to the one person, they always drifted to.

That was how he found himself staring at his phone and listening to the female voice on and on.

He just wanted to say hello. Just wanted to talk. Just wanted to hear his voice.

Bucky’d been in love all those years ago.

And he didn’t even realize until much much later.

But Clint had been right. He was a coward.  
( _They say that time's supposed to heal ya, But I ain't done much healing._ )

Bucky wanted to talk to him. Tell him that he was sorry for the things he had done and said to Clint. He wanted to tell him that he was in the US now, too. Could they please meet and talk? He wanted to tell Clint that he had missed him. He had missed him since that moment his heart broke when Clint had walked out of that tent.

But it wasn’t meant to be.

Bucky would never hear Clint’s voice again. Or see him again. Or kneel in front of him, begging for forgiveness. He would never have the chance to tell him that he loved him. Had been in love with him since they had been introduced as Agent Barton and Sergeant Barnes.

Bucky sighed, deleted the number and turned off the lights.  
Sleep wouldn’t come.

~+~

12 hours later, he was sitting in a conference room in Stark tower and miserable. Stark was prodding at his arm, telling him that he could upgrade it. Steve had an arm wrestling contest with Thor (what the fuck?) and Doctor Banner was playing the judge. Natalia Romanova was handing out actual paper files about their first official mission and talking to Fury.

And that Sam Wilson dude was playing Pokemon on his Nintendo against _Hawkeye_. Marksman with a love for bows and arrows. SHIELD agent. Gorgeous specimen. And love of Bucky’s life (currently ignoring him spectacularly). 

If he didn’t have the urge to cry right now, Bucky would have laughed hysterically. Because what were the odds?

The debrief was a blur and suddenly Bucky and Clint where the only ones on the room. Everyone else had left. Bucky blinked and sat up straighter when Clint was staring at him.

“Well, this is awkward,” Clint said conversationally.

“I meant to call, but--” Bucky said.

Clint rolled his eyes and walked over to him, sitting on the edge of the table right in front of Bucky.

“Is there something else you want to tell me?” Clint asked. 

“There’s a lot I want to tell you,” Bucky replied, mouth suddenly very dry.

“Thought so. Ten years of repressed emotions - the autobiography of James Barnes.”

Bucky winced, but Clint chuckled. He leaned down and Bucky was lost immediately as Clint’s breath ghosted across his face. He smelled peppermint and a hint of pineapple. It felt like coming home.

“I’m so sorry,” Bucky started but Clint cut him off by laying his hand over Bucky’s mouth.

“Shhhhsh, don’t wanna hear it. You weren’t the only dumb one back then. As soon as I was back home I wanted to call you and make everything right. But I never made the call. I was wrong. I am the coward. I can’t believe you bastard show up here. Sounds disgustingly like fate. Don’t you think?”

Bucky only shrugged. “When did you become so philosophical?”

“Oh fuck you. How about coffee? Stark has installed a ridiculous coffee machine in my kitchen. We could talk. You could tell me how much you’ve missed me, how sorry you are that you didn’t realize you were madly in love with me, and how you got that fancy Robocop vibe.”

Clint patted his metal arm and hopped off the table.

“How about you tell me that you’re madly in love with me? That would make the talk less awkward,” Bucky said, trying to hide his grin and failed. He stood up and followed Clint to the elevator.

Clint pressed the ‘up’ button and smiled at Bucky.

It was exactly the same smile he had given Bucky after their first kiss.

And Bucky knew.

He knew that there was one more chance to make it right.

And he would take it.

Together, they stepped into the elevator.

(JARVIS activated private elevator mode 36 seconds after the doors closed.)  
(Bucky did get on his knees after all.)


End file.
